The present invention relates to methods for making multi-dimensional integrated circuits.
Integrated electronic circuits (ICs) are usually fabricated with pre-specified devices and internal connections which are implemented during the manufacturing process. Moreover, once a fabrication process is specified for a particular IC, the process typically is not substantially altered unless major processing errors are identified Any changes to the particular IC design have no accompanying changes to the fabrication process. This methodology is followed in custom, or semi-custom application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) devices used in high volume, low cost applications.
The design and fabrication of custom or semi-custom ICs can be time consuming and expensive. The customization involves a lengthy design cycle during the product definition phase and high Non Recurring Engineering (NRE) costs during the manufacturing phase. Further, should errors exist in the custom or semi-custom ICs, the design/fabrication cycle has to be repeated, further aggravating the time to market and engineering cost As a result, ASICs serve only specific markets and are custom built for high volume and low cost applications.
Another type of semi custom device called a Gate Array customizes modular blocks at a reduced NRE cost by synthesizing the design using a software model similar to the ASIC. The missing silicon level design verification results in multiple spins and lengthy design iterations.
In recent years there has been a move away from custom or semi-custom ICs towards field programmable components whose function is determined not when the integrated circuit is fabricated, but by an end user “in the field” prior to use. Off the shelf, generic Programmable Logic Device (PLD) or Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) products greatly simplify the design cycle. These products offer user-friendly software to fit custom logic into the device through programmability, and the capability to tweak and optimize designs to optimize silicon performance. The flexibility of this programmability is expensive in terms of silicon real estate, but reduces design cycle and upfront NRE cost to the designer.
FPGAs offer the advantages of low non-recurring engineering costs, fast turnaround (designs can be placed and routed on an FPGA in typically a few minutes), and low risk since designs can be easily amended late in the product design cycle. It is only for high volume production runs that there is a cost benefit in using the more traditional ASIC approaches, but the volumes are unpredictable during early stages of the product life cycle. However, the conversion from an FPGA implementation to an ASIC implementation typically requires a complete redesign. Such redesign is undesirable in that the FPGA design effort is wasted.
Compared to PLD and FPGA, an ASIC has hard-wired logic connections, identified during the chip design phase, and need no configuration memory cells. This is a large chip area and cost saving for the ASIC. Smaller ASIC die sizes lead to better performance. A full custom ASIC also has customized logic functions which take less gate counts compared to PLD and FPGA configurations of the same functions. Thus, an ASIC is significantly smaller, faster, cheaper and more reliable than an equivalent gate-count PLD or FPGA. The trade-off is between time-to-market (PLD and FPGA advantage) versus low cost and better reliability (ASIC advantage).
There is no convenient migration path from a PLD or FPGA used as a design verification and prototyping vehicle to the lower die size ASIC. All of the SRAM or Anti-fuse configuration bits and programming circuitry has no value to the ASIC. Programmable module removal from the PLD or FPGA and the ensuing layout and design customization is time consuming with severe timing variations from the original design.